Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-v9fdk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T10:10:55.544Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

FIRST DIRECTLY DATED ROCK ART IN SOUTHEAST ASIA AND THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 April 2021

Andrea Jalandoni Open the ORCID record for Andrea Jalandoni [Opens in a new window] ,
Marie Grace Pamela G Faylona ,
Aila Shaine Sambo ,
Mark D Willis ,
Caroline Marie Q Lising ,
Maria Kottermair ,
Xandriane E Loriega  and
Paul S C Taçon
Andrea Jalandoni*
Affiliation:
Griffith University - PERAHU, Griffith Centre for Social and Cultural Research, Gold Coast Campus, Southport, Queensland, Australia
Marie Grace Pamela G Faylona
Affiliation:
Philippine Normal University, Faculty of Behavioral And Social Sciences, Manila, Philippines De la Salle University, Behavioral Sciences Department, Manila, Philippines
Aila Shaine Sambo
Affiliation:
University of the Philippines Diliman, Archaeological Studies Program, Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines
Mark D Willis
Affiliation:
Flinders University, College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Caroline Marie Q Lising
Affiliation:
Ateneo de Manila University, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Quezon City, Philippines
Maria Kottermair
Affiliation:
Griffith University, Griffith Centre for Social and Cultural Research, Gold Coast Campus, Southport, Queensland, Australia
Xandriane E Loriega
Affiliation:
University of the Philippines Diliman, Archaeological Studies Program, Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines
Paul S C Taçon
Affiliation:
Griffith University - PERAHU, Griffith Centre for Social and Cultural Research, Gold Coast Campus, Southport, Queensland, Australia
*
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper integrates the first rock art directly dated with radiocarbon (14C) in Southeast Asia with the archaeological activity in the area and with stylistically similar rock art in the region. Peñablanca is a hotspot of archaeological research that includes the oldest dates for human remains in the Philippines. The caves in Peñablanca with known rock art were revisited and only 37.6% of the original recorded figures were found; the others are likely lost to agents of deterioration. A sample was collected from an anthropomorph and accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) dated to 3570–3460 cal BP. The date corresponds to archaeological activity in the area and provides a more holistic view of the people inhabiting the Peñablanca caves at that time. A systematic review was used to find similar black anthropomorph motifs in Southeast Asia to identify potential connections across the region and provide a possible chronological association.

Keywords

charcoaldatingPhilippinespictogramsrock art
Type
Research Article
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 63 , Issue 3 , June 2021 , pp. 925 - 933
Check for updates
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press for the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Armitage, RA, Brady, JE, Cobb, A, Southon, JR, Rowe, MW. 2001. Mass spectrometric radiocarbon dates from three rock paintings of known age. American Antiquity p. 471–480.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aubert, M, Brumm, A, Ramli, M, Sutikna, T, Saptomo, EW, Hakim, B, Morwood, MJ, van den Bergh, GD, Kinsley, L, Dosseto, A. 2014. Pleistocene cave art from Sulawesi, Indonesia. Nature 514(7521):223–227.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Aubert, M, Brumm, A, Taçon, PS. 2017. The timing and nature of human colonization of Southeast Asia in the late Pleistocene: a rock art perspective. Current Anthropology 58(S17):S553–S566.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aubert, M, Setiawan, P, Oktaviana, AA, Brumm, A, Sulistyarto, PH, Saptomo, EW, Istiawan, B, Ma’rifat, TA, Wahyuono, VN, Atmoko, FT, Zhao, JX. 2018. Palaeolithic cave art in Borneo. Nature 564(7735):254–257.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Aubert, M, Lebe, R, Oktaviana, AA, Tang, M, Burhan, B, Jusdi, A, Hakim, B, Zhao, JX, Geria, IM, Sulistyarto, PH, Sardi, R. 2019. Earliest hunting scene in prehistoric art. Nature 576(7787):442–445.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bellwood, P. 1995. Austronesian prehistory in Southeast Asia: homeland, expansion and transformation. In: Bellwood, P, Fox, JJ, Tryon, D, editors. The Austronesians: historical and comparative perspectives. Canberra, Australia: ANU E Press. p. 96–111.Google Scholar
Bronk Ramsey, C. 2020. OxCal program v4.4.2. Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit. University of Oxford. https://c14.arch.ox.ac.uk.Google Scholar
Datan, I, Bellwood, P. 1993. Recent research at Gua Sireh (Serian) and Lubang Angin (Gunung Mulu National Park), Sarawak. Sarawak Museum Journal 44(65):93–111.Google Scholar
David, B, Armitage, RA, Hyman, M, Rowe, MW, Lawson, E. 1999. How old is north Queensland’s rock-art? A review of the evidence, with new AMS determinations. Archaeology in Oceania 34(3):103–120.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Delfin, F, Salvador, JM, Calacal, GC, Perdigon, HB, Tabbada, KA, Villamor, LP, Halos, SC, Gunnarsdóttir, E, Myles, S, Hughes, DA, Xu, S. 2011. The Y-chromosome landscape of the Philippines: extensive heterogeneity and varying genetic affinities of Negrito and non-Negrito groups. European Journal of Human Genetics 19(2):224–230.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Détroit, F, Corny, J, Dizon, EZ, Mijares, AS. 2013. “Small size” in the Philippine human fossil record: is it meaningful for a better understanding of the evolutionary history of the negritos? Human Biology 85(1/3):45–66.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Détroit, F, Mijares, AS, Corny, J, Daver, G, Zanolli, C, Dizon, E, Robles, E, Grün, R, Piper, PJ. 2019. A new species of Homo from the Late Pleistocene of the Philippines. Nature 568(7751):181–186.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Faylona, MGPG, Lising, CMQ, Dizon, EZ. 2016. Re-examining pictograms in the caves of Cagayan valley Philippines. Rock Art Research: The Journal of the Australian Rock Art Research Association (AURA) 33(2):182.Google Scholar
Grussenmeyer, P, Landes, T, Alby, E, Carozza, L. 2010. High resolution 3D recording and modelling of the bronze Age cave “les Fraux” in Périgord (France). ISPRS Comm. V Symposium, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, June 2010. p. 22–24.Google Scholar
Jalandoni, A. 2018. The archaeological investigation of rock art in the Philippines [unpublished doctoral, Griffith University].Google Scholar
Jalandoni, A, Taçon, P, Haubt, R. 2019. A Systematic quantitative literature review of Southeast Asian and Micronesian rock art. Advances in Archaeological Practice 7(4):423–434.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jinam, TA, Hong, L-C, Phipps, ME, Stoneking, M, Ameen, M, Edo, J, Consortium HP-AS, Saitou, N. 2012. Evolutionary history of Continental Southeast Asians: “early train” hypothesis based on genetic analysis of mitochondrial and autosomal DNA data. Molecular Biology and Evolution 29:3513–3527.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lerma, JL, Navarro, S, Cabrelles, M, Villaverde, V. 2010. Terrestrial laser scanning and close range photogrammetry for 3D archaeological documentation: the Upper Palaeolithic Cave of Parpallo as a case study. Journal of Archaeological Science 37(3):499–507.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mijares, ASB. 2002. The Minori Cave expedient lithic technology. University of the Philippines Press.Google Scholar
Mijares, AS. 2005. The archaeology of Peñablanca cave sites, northern Luzon, Philippines. Journal of Austronesian Studies 1(2):65–92.Google Scholar
Mijares, ASB. 2008 Late Pleistocene and early Holocene forager organizations in Southeast Asia: the Late Pleistocene to Early Holocene foragers of northern Luzon. Bulletin of the Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association 28: 99–107.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mijares, AS, Détroit, F, Piper, P, Grün, R, Bellwood, P, Aubert, M, Champion, G, Cuevas, N, De Leon, A, Dizon, E. 2010. New evidence for a 67,000-year-old human presence at Callao Cave, Luzon, Philippines. Journal of Human Evolution 59(1):123–132.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mijares, AS. 2017. Understanding the Callao Cave depositional history. In: Piper, PJ, Matsumura, H, Bulbeck, D, editors. New perspectives in Southeast Asian and Pacific prehistory. Terra Australis 45, ANU Press. p. 125–140.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O’Connor, S, Louys, J, Kealy, S. 2015. First record of painted rock art near Kupang, West Timor, Indonesia, and the origins and distribution of the Austronesian painting tradition. Rock Art Research 32(2):193.Google Scholar
Petchey, FJ. 2017. Radiocarbon dating in rock art research. In: David, B, McNiven, IJ, editors. The Oxford handbook of the archaeology and anthropology of rock art. doi: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190607357.013.13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Petchey, F, Dabell, K, Hogg, A. 2017. Waikato Radiocarbon Dating Laboratory AMS Processing Technical Report, University of Waikato. Accessed on 1 Dec. 2020 from http://www.radiocarbondating.com/operating-procedures/ams-dating.Google Scholar
Peralta, J. 1979. Preliminary report on the petroglyphs of the Peñablanca caves [unpublished manuscript]. National Museum of the Philippines, Manila.Google Scholar
Reimer, PJ, Austin, WEN, Bard, E, Bayliss, A, Blackwell, PG, Ramsey, CB, Butzin, M, Cheng, H, Edwards, RL, Friedrich, M, Grootes, PM, Guilderson, TP, Hajdas, I, Heaton, TJ, Hogg, AG, Hughen, KA, Kromer, B, Manning, SW, Muscheler, R, Palmer, JG, Pearson, C, van der Plicht, J, Reimer, RW, Richards, DA, Scott, EM, Southon, JR, Turney, CSM, Wacker, L, Adolphi, F, Büntgen, U, Capano, M, Fahrni, SM, Fogtmann-Schulz, A, Friedrich, R, Köhler, P, Kudsk, P, Miyake, F, Olsen, J, Reinig, F, Sakamoto, M, Sookdeo, A, Talamo, S. 2020. The IntCal20 Northern Hemisphere radiocarbon age calibration curve (0–55 cal kBP). Radiocarbon 62(4):725–757. doi: 10.1017/RDC.2020.41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ronquillo, WP. 1981. The technological and functional analyses of lithic flake tools from Rabel Cave, northern Luzon, Philippines (No. 13). National Museum.Google Scholar
Ronquillo, W, Santiago, R. 1977. Archaeological caves and open sites exploration at Peñablanca, Cagayan Province [unpublished report]. Manila: National Museum of the Philippines.Google Scholar
Saidin, M, Taçon, PSC, Yang, D, Nash, G, May, SK, Lewis, B. 2008. Illustrating the past: the rock art of Southeast Asia. Current World Archaeology 29:40–48.Google Scholar
Taçon, PS, Ramli, M, Hakim, B, Brumm, A, Aubert, M. 2018. The contemporary importance and future of Sulawesi’s ancient rock art. Terra Australis 48:31–42.Google Scholar
Taha, AH. 1990. Conservation and management problems of rock art sites in peninsular Malaysia. Malaysia Dari Segi Sejarah, Bil. 18 1990, ms. 92–101.Google Scholar
Thiel, B. 1986. Excavations at Arku Cave, northeast Luzon, Philippines. Asian Perspectives 27(2), 229–264.Google Scholar
Thiel, B. 1988. Excavations at Musang Cave, northeast Luzon, Philippines. Asian Perspectives 28(1):61–81.Google Scholar
Tobias, C. 1998. The petrographs of the Peñablanca Caves, Peñablanca, Cagayan [unpublished undergraduate thesis]. University of the Philippines, Manila.Google Scholar
Tongson, J. 2013. Polarized light microscopy characterization of materials on Peñablanca rock art drawings [unpublished report].Google Scholar
Turner, CG, Eder, JF. 2006. Dentition of the Batak people of Palawan Island, the Philippines: Southeast Asian Negrito origins. In: Oxenham, M, Tayles, N, editors. Bioarchaeology of Southeast Asia. New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 172–187.CrossRefGoogle Scholar